it's an amateur ride...

...which i guess means I'm an amateur? let me explain.

I have started going on as many group bike rides as i feel motivated to go. lately it has been pretty much daily except for Tuesday (its girls night out in s.a.). Anywho, last week we had this awesome week down here in San Antonio. why? well, it had been pretty darn cool most of the week. this cold front out of nowhere started on the first day of fall, and it was really great to have it feel like autumn. so aside from the cold, we also got quite a bit of rain. i was lovin' it.

Thursday night comes along, and i'm all excited to go riding in wet (but not raining) weather. Thursday's ride has some neato winding downhills and goes up and around through downtown. i believe it is the longest running ride in san antonio, which i am not sure if that refers to the amount of time it has been going on or the distance traveled. either way, it is a nice ride and i look forward to it all the time. so, 7:30 comes along and i'm running about 4 minutes late. i figure it will be no problem, because lately they stick around for up to 15 minutes after the supposed 7:30 start time. however, on this particular lovely evening, the parking lot was empty save for about 3 cars. it was a pretty sad way to find out that the ride is NOT rain or shine.

the next evening i bumped into one of the ride leaders; he tells me "it's an amateur ride" when asked why nobody showed up. i guess that means i am an amateur for riding the route solo. i rode up and down and all around downtown, rockin' my orange windbreaker and also happy to have adjusted my derailleur's limits. at some point i passed a bank that said it was 60 degrees out. i don't know how accurate that was...banks can't be trusted with the temperature, y'know. i do know that it was a very nice ride through the dead streets of San Antonio. the weather had everyone inside, probably scared they're gonna pick up the flu or something. for me, it just had the effect of not getting so sweaty or being so thirsty. nice.

so now the coolness is gone and we're back to the heat it seems. boo! i can't wait to go riding in the fall...when is that? january?